The present invention refers to a hinge for pieces of furniture, and in particular to a hinge of the type including a casing which is attached to a door of a piece of furniture, and a support member which is attached to a wall of the piece of furniture and includes at least one bearing insert projecting into the casing for defining at least one joint connection between the support member and the casing and including in the area of the joint connection a peripheral cam-like control surface which cooperates with a closing and locking member in form of a flat spring during opening of the hinge.
In conventional hinges of the above stated type, the flat spring, e.g. in form of a leaf spring, protrudes relatively deep into the casing space which adversely affects the overall optical appearance. Moreover, the prestress of the flat spring is effected by a special construction which is integrated with the remaining operational parts of the hinge and is relatively expensive. Also, because this special construction forms an integral part of the hinge, its use becomes necessary even though in some special cases there is no need for a closing or locking unit,